I have received many emails with questions about counting calories, so I thought I would share my perspective in a post! In general, I do think that counting calories, especially at first can be beneficial for someone who is just starting to read nutrition labels and get familiar with different foods. However, I always suggest that the ultimate goal that people should aim for is to listen to their body, rather than counting calories long term.

Counting calories in the beginning of a weight loss journey can be helpful because you can get a realistic sense of how to space out calories throughout your day to best fuel your body, and you get familiar with portion sizes in general. On the other hand, when it comes to maintaining this long-term, counting calories really isn’t realistic, and it can even become obsessive if taken to the extreme.

I personally found that counting calories for about a month in the beginning of my journey worked well for me, because it allowed me to get familiar with how to space calories out throughout my day in a way that made me feel energized throughout the day. After becoming ‘familiar’ with proper portion sizes, I decided to stop tracking calories and start to listen to my body’s natural hunger cues. This means I would eat until I was satisfied…Not stuffed.

“Fear not; you will no longer live in shame. Don’t be afraid; there is no more disgrace for you. You will no longer remember the shame of your youth and the sorrows of widowhood.”~ Isaiah 54:4

I love this verse. It is so personal to me, because I spent so many years living in shame for how I treated my body….Which I now see was nothing more than the enemy trying to keep me in bondage to my past. Whether it was a recent binge he tried to bring me back to…or even something I did weeks, months or even years ago- he would constantly try to accuse me of something!

It wasn’t until I learned that one of satan’s names is actually ‘accuser’ (Revelation 12:10), that I realized what was actually taking place when I felt such horrible feelings of guilt and shame. God showed me that when I would allow these feelings to overwhelm me, I essentially ended up pondering and meditating on my sins. Whenever I would do this, I would find myself in such shame that I wouldn’t even want to spend time with Him. Looking back now, I realize that was EXACTLY what satan wanted!

So much of what the enemy tries to do is keep us hung-up on past mistakes, flaws, or setbacks. If the enemy can keep us in shame then he can keep us focused ourself, instead of what Jesus did for us, and finding out who we are IN Him.. If satan can get us caught up in our shameful ways, than he will fulfill his ultimate plan which is to keep us as feeling as far away from the Lord as possible!